Thursday, May 07, 2020
Charities on the brink?
Over at The Times, there is a disturbing report of the crisis facing many charities as a result of the lockdown. Many of the UK's 192,000 charities are facing an increase in demand for their services at the same time as a fall-off in income:
Vicky Browning, who runs an organisation for charity chief executives, says that the worst hit are those that followed advice to develop new sources of income such as shops, letting premises and providing training.
“Over the last ten or 20 years the sector has really been encouraged to professionalise, to not be so reliant on grant finding but to diversify its income,” Ms Browning says. “The irony is all of that is what has stopped. Any that were still largely reliant on grant funding are doing the better, which does seem quite cruel.”
A striking feature of the pandemic has been a reaction among many to raise money for the NHS rather than for struggling charities, regardless of the pledge by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, to give the health service “whatever it needs, whatever it takes”.
The veteran army officer Tom Moore, the celebrity fitness coach Joe Wicks and Premiership footballers led by Jordan Henderson, of Liverpool, decided to raise money for the NHS via hospital charities. Many young people did the same with a “run 5, give 5, nominate 5” challenge on social media, which as raised £5 .5 million to support NHS staff.
Hundreds of grassroots groups sprang up on the eve of the lockdown to mobilise volunteers to support vulnerable people in their communities under the banner Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK. Not only did this movement bypass established charities, despite their expertise in vetting, training and deploying volunteers, but it refused to co-operate with them.
Bizarrely, its umbrella group advised volunteers not to work directly with charities, public bodies or the police, saying that they should “maintain their independence”.
The instinct to leave out existing charities was shared in government. Ministers surpassed expectations by recruiting 750,000 volunteers to support the NHS. For logistics they worked with a charity, the Royal Voluntary Service, but it is an NHS-branded initiative.
In March voluntary sector leaders estimated that charities would lose £4.3 billion in revenue over the next three months. Yet when they asked for government support there was a long delay before ministers allocated barely one sixth of that amount, £750 million, with many strings attached. The Treasury was reluctant and wanted to give much less, several people involved say.
The danger is that once this crisis dissipates and people turn their attention back to established charities, there may not be much left. Expertise and networks could be lost very easily as income dries up, leaving those most in need of the services offered by these organisations having nowhere to turn. Isn't it time the government recognised this and acted?
Vicky Browning, who runs an organisation for charity chief executives, says that the worst hit are those that followed advice to develop new sources of income such as shops, letting premises and providing training.
“Over the last ten or 20 years the sector has really been encouraged to professionalise, to not be so reliant on grant finding but to diversify its income,” Ms Browning says. “The irony is all of that is what has stopped. Any that were still largely reliant on grant funding are doing the better, which does seem quite cruel.”
A striking feature of the pandemic has been a reaction among many to raise money for the NHS rather than for struggling charities, regardless of the pledge by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, to give the health service “whatever it needs, whatever it takes”.
The veteran army officer Tom Moore, the celebrity fitness coach Joe Wicks and Premiership footballers led by Jordan Henderson, of Liverpool, decided to raise money for the NHS via hospital charities. Many young people did the same with a “run 5, give 5, nominate 5” challenge on social media, which as raised £5 .5 million to support NHS staff.
Hundreds of grassroots groups sprang up on the eve of the lockdown to mobilise volunteers to support vulnerable people in their communities under the banner Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK. Not only did this movement bypass established charities, despite their expertise in vetting, training and deploying volunteers, but it refused to co-operate with them.
Bizarrely, its umbrella group advised volunteers not to work directly with charities, public bodies or the police, saying that they should “maintain their independence”.
The instinct to leave out existing charities was shared in government. Ministers surpassed expectations by recruiting 750,000 volunteers to support the NHS. For logistics they worked with a charity, the Royal Voluntary Service, but it is an NHS-branded initiative.
In March voluntary sector leaders estimated that charities would lose £4.3 billion in revenue over the next three months. Yet when they asked for government support there was a long delay before ministers allocated barely one sixth of that amount, £750 million, with many strings attached. The Treasury was reluctant and wanted to give much less, several people involved say.
The danger is that once this crisis dissipates and people turn their attention back to established charities, there may not be much left. Expertise and networks could be lost very easily as income dries up, leaving those most in need of the services offered by these organisations having nowhere to turn. Isn't it time the government recognised this and acted?
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Aright wing tory govnt does not like charities. they look down on it. They will do as little as poss to maintain them for they 'prefer' individuals to look after themselves AND to maintain there status. They do not like the poor.
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